Movsessian and Vialatte – Twenty nigunim for clarinet and piano

Descrizione

The emergence of the Hasidic movement in Podolia, in the second half of the 18th century, went along with the creation of a new type of singing, half way between religious music and popular music: the Nigun.

The Nigun (literaly « tune ») is based on a simple melody, sometimes accompanied by short onomatopoeias such as « doy doy doy » or « ya-ba-bam » generally repeated several times. Movements of the body can also go along with the Nigunim (plural of Nigun) leading to a kind of trance.

In the Jewish tradition, the Nigunim are colored with improvisations. When composing and performing these 20 Nigunim of this score, Claudine Movsessian and Martine Vialatte attempted to recall the spirit of this original musical form. They tried to transcribe the most precisely and accurately the structure of these 20 Nigunim. Some improvised passages have not been transcribed (in particular the reprises), allowing the musician to create his own improvisation.

This musical score is intended as a method of initiation to klezmer music, its ornaments, its silences and its joyful nostalgia. To accompany the musicians in this process, the sound files of these 20 nigunim will be sent free to any purchaser of the score.

Extraits :

01 – NIGUN Dansant

15 – NIGUN Joyeux

18 – NIGUN Libre 2

20 – NIGUN La Ronde

07 – NIGUN Traditionnel

09 – NIGUN Contrapuntique